The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

This sent Klopp leaping to his feet in the technical area.

He completely lost his composure, especially when he saw Slomka, who had been sitting calmly on the visiting team’s bench, rush out and roar in celebration of the goal.

"Tell me, you think he’s never heard that saying back in Lower Saxony?" Klopp fumed as he stomped back to the front of the bench.

"What saying?"

"Those who sow the wind will reap the storm!"

Buvac and Krawietz exchanged a look and laughed in unison.

It was a German cautionary proverb, meaning that provoking small conflicts could invite much greater retaliation.

Slomka was from Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, which is a southern suburb of Hanover.

One would think he’d have heard that saying before.

"Substitution!" Klopp shouted, stomping his foot forcefully.

...

Three minutes later, Wang Shuo was standing on the sideline.

The fourth official had already raised the substitution board: number 9, Wang Shuo, on for number 16, Kuba.

After a high-five and a hug with Kuba, Wang Shuo jogged onto the pitch.

He was met with a thunderous roar that filled the entire stadium.

At this moment, Dortmund desperately needed Wang Shuo.

The broadcast camera panned across the stands, where countless fans were cheering, excitedly chanting Wang Shuo’s name.

Wang Shuo dashed upfield, raising a hand to his teammates to signal for everyone to stay calm.

The match resumed.

Following the substitution, Dortmund switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

Lewandowski played up top, while Wang Shuo took on a free role.

Then, in the 63rd minute, just over two minutes after Wang Shuo had come on, Schmelzer made a run up the left flank. He took a pass from Grosskreutz but couldn’t break through along the touchline, so he cut a pass inside to Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo dropped into the space between the opposition’s midfield and defense to receive the ball. When it arrived, he was unmarked.

With a single touch, he turned and immediately burst forward, dribbling diagonally toward the Arc Top District.

Hannover 96’s midfielder, Schmidbach, moved to intercept, but a sudden burst of speed from Wang Shuo left him in the dust.

Wang Shuo dribbled to the left side of the Arc Top District just outside the box.

Facing Hannover 96’s two center-backs, Wang Shuo slowed, took a series of quick, short steps to set himself up, and then suddenly changed direction. With a deft "la croqueta," he slipped right past center-back number 21, Haji.

The other center-back, Bogatetz, immediately rushed over to cut him off, but Wang Shuo was quicker. He got to the ball first and poked it straight through Bogatetz’s legs.

The ball went straight through Bogatetz’s legs. Wang Shuo exploded with speed, bursting past him and collecting the ball again just before reaching the penalty spot.

The goalkeeper, Frohmlowitz, abandoned his line and charged out.

Before he could close the distance, Wang Shuo hit a toe-poke with his right foot.

The ball shot past Frohmlowitz and nestled into the bottom right corner of the Hannover 96 goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"It’s in!!!"

"Just three minutes after coming on as a substitute, Wang Shuo scores an absolutely brilliant goal!"

"He took on multiple Hannover 96 defenders, relying on pure individual skill to dribble his way into the box and score with a toe-poke, equalizing for Dortmund!"

"1-1!"

"He’s saved Dortmund!"

For a brief moment, the entire Westfalen Stadium fell into a dead silence.

Evidently, the Dortmund fans couldn’t believe their eyes.

’A goal after only three minutes?’

’This is insane!’

’They knew Wang Shuo was good, but this was just unbelievable!’

After all, Dortmund had dominated the entire match but had been unable to find the back of the net.

’What the rest of the team couldn’t do in over an hour, Wang Shuo accomplished in just three minutes!’

Then, the entire stadium erupted in a frenzy of cheers.

The pent-up frustration from over an hour of play, the anxiety and unease from the past three matches—it all came bursting out of the more than 80,000 Dortmund fans at this very moment.

Countless people were roaring in the stands.

The South Stand, in particular, was a scene of pure pandemonium!

But Wang Shuo merely clenched his right fist. Instead of running off to celebrate, he dashed straight into the goal, scooped the ball from behind the line, and sprinted back toward the center circle.

His teammates ran over to celebrate with him, but he waved them off.

"This is no time to celebrate! We need to hurry and get another one!"

After a slight pause, Wang Shuo glanced toward the home team’s technical area, where Klopp was wildly shadowboxing, and broke into a grin.

"Slomka really got under the boss’s skin just now. He’s pissed. If we don’t win this match, we’re all going to be in for it!"

The other players all glanced over at Klopp and nodded in unison.

With Klopp’s explosive temper, everyone except Wang Shuo was terrified of him when he flew into one of his rages.

...

Wang Shuo’s goal was a massive morale boost for Dortmund.

Hannover 96, on the other hand, was stunned by Dortmund’s sudden surge of momentum.

The game quickly restarted.

As soon as Hannover 96 kicked off, Dortmund immediately won the ball back on the left flank and quickly passed it to Gundogan.

Gundogan, receiving the ball to the left of the center circle, suddenly launched a long, sweeping diagonal pass, sending it directly to the right side, just outside the opposition’s penalty area.

Piszczek surged forward at top speed, chasing the ball down on the right side of the box. He took one touch to knock it toward the byline, caught up to it again, and sent a lofted cross into the middle.

Wang Shuo charged forward at incredible speed, leaping up between the two center-backs, Bogatetz and Haji.